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I have a headache today too, I wonder if that's just a clear liquids thing. Self pay must be terribly difficult, but you could never make a better investment than on your own life. I just prayed for you that you will have a safe surgery without complications and will be successful in your journey.

Mine is Tuesday, Aug 1 also. I started mine on Thursday. Had an awful headache all day. Not use to a lot of sweats and although they don't taste bad, 3 Premier Protein shakes a day was too much, Broth was good. I used home-canned turkey-vegetable broth. You can flavor up plain broth with spices. Since I am only required to do liquid only on Monday,chicken breast just to eat I received my genepro 2 I ordered and tried with my broth. For me, it worked just as claimed (maybe a slight tinge of smell) but it did dissolve completely in broth when prepared as directed first. Made the liquid diet easy now. I've done fine with not eating. Knowing this is just temporary and I will eat again is not a problem. I cook for my family and no temptation. Just have to remember NOT to taste out of habit. I did have an hour last night when I suddenly became extremely nervous and questioning if I was doing the right thing, but I got on here and read and calmed myself. I'm excited and scared(a little) but, it this is for my health. Praying for no complications because I am a self-pay with no coverage for complications.

Yes, it is normal to be put on puree diet after any bariayric surgery. The stomach staple line has to heal and chunks of food can get caught and cause terrible complications. Follow the diet to the utmost, also consult your medical staff with any questions and concerns! Puree is a very normal and safe phase. My surgeon advanced me to a soft diet after 30 days. Dont worry! Sent from my SM-J320P using BariatricPal mobile app

Where do you live? I just had a revision 6/16 at Cedar Sinaid hospital in Beverly Hills, my surgeon is amazing. I had my original surgery 20 years ago a VGB and recently had a revision RNY due to severe GURD and pain. I remember there was another patient that who I met that had the sleeve to RNY and she had Medicare. It's possible when you're having complications. Document everything. Pain and vomiting have studies done to see if you have GURD. Best of luck. http://bio.csmc.edu/view/5877/Daniel-Shouhed.aspx Aka_ET HW-220 Pre-op 194.3 RNY SD June 16th 2017 CW-176 GW-140 HT 5' 3" [emoji120][emoji878][emoji1272] "You may see me struggle but you will never see me quit"

I got a few apps including Baritastic. They are so complex. I want to QUICKLY log in my fluids or protein, not search for foods or figure out which "meal" to call it. I can't figure out how to just plug in x grams, then later, another x grams. Or x oz fluid, then later another x oz fluid. Etc. Anyone have an easy way to spend seconds tracking instead of feeling stupid and wasting a half hour?

To put your mind at ease on the diet aspect (which I completely understand is not your focus at all right now) my program has its patients on purees beginning at day 3 post op (including scrambled eggs and cottage cheese), moves to soft proteins at 2 weeks, and solid protein by 3 weeks. It seems that every program is different and that difference can be the source of much debate. Regardless, I am so sorry to hear of your complications. I hope that you are on the mend and feeling better very soon.

I watched My 600 lb Life. Watched it pre-op, would have watched it in the hospital but I preferred peace and quiet over noise then. I watch it here and there now. I take watching that show as a learning experience and it makes me think of what could have happened to me if I gave up on my health or didn't go through with the surgery because there was a lot of people telling me not to go through with it just because they knew someone who had a lot of complications or regained all their weight back. Thing is I'm not them and they probably didn't follow the rules when they should have. I said once this excess weight is gone, it's not coming back. Okay, I'll stop with my rambling now lol ---------------------------- HW- 273 Pre-op Wt- 230 SW- 226 CW- 180 GW- 130 Ht- 5'2.5" DOS- April 26th, 2017 "Only those who try will become." ~FFX

Dr. Wiljon Beltrè is the go to guy for surgery in Central Florida. He cares about his patients "beyond the knife". His patients have a high success rate and few complications and weight gain, IF, you commit and follow the plan. Sent from my XT1097 using BariatricPal mobile app

I found this series the most helpful for a quick tutorial of 3 methods. the other videos pop up in the youtube side bar..watch the one on complications... it may help on decision making. BUT some people don't qualify for many possible reasons so you are not choosing unless they say you are.. FB posters in one site say they CHOOSE RNY because they love sweets and want to be sick and dumping so they can stick to the diet long term. [shudder] sounds like a harsh choice! Most interesting above is the "hunger hormone" explained and the "location" for Ghrelin is removed with VSG but balloon or other methods like RNY leave that signaling hormone so people do get hungry. I am just learning of the ENDO sleeve gastroplasty, it is NOT a gastrectomy, no stomach is removed. an actual stitching machine from the inside, no surgery, but anesthesia needed.

I looked up a circumferential adominalplasty and that seems exactly what I need. The first doctor seems to be writing up the adominalplasty as a panniculectomy to charge insurance. She claims insurance only covers the skin that is hanging over the pubic area. Her quote seems complicated so I'm leaning towards number 3. I have two more appointments yet so I'll see. Number 3 gets great reviews but they seem mostly breast work. It seems hard to find a doctor with extensive experience working on weight loss people.

I'm so happy you went in and found out what was wrong. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will take care of things, and it'll all be downhill from here. Feeling that "it wasn't worth it" is normal, especially when there are complications.. just try not to dwell on the negativity. Try and take everything one day at a time, and look for positives. The healing will go by faster, and hopefully when you get all healed up, you'll start feeling differently. At the moment, you have a lot of work to do. Count your fluids and protein, make sure you're up walking, and now taking care of your drain. My MIL had 2 drains that stayed in for 6 weeks after a tummy tuck. A week after the surgery she had pus start coming into her drain tubes. I live with her, so it was my job to empty those things, and rush her to the ER when we saw the pus (against the advice of the home health nurses.. they wanted us to just wait until the next day). (Turns out I saved her life that night since she was going septic). So I do know a bit about what you are going through. Now that you're on some good antibiotics, you're gonna do just fine. Just keep a tab on how you're feeling, and things should keep getting a bit better each day. If you start feeling worse.. be sure not to ignore it. {Hugs}

I met with several surgeons before finding one that I clicked with. The biggest thing about plastics is after care. Having had now 3 major plastics, I have learned a lot and the most critical thing is after care. I had a Brachioplasty done last July, a full abdominalplasty, breast lift and breast augmentation done in January and just 3 weeks ago I had a deep plane face/neck lift, endoscopic brow lift, lower eyelid lift and fat graphting. All of my surgeries were very successful with minimal complications. Apparently I was allergic to the surgical glue/tape use to close my arm lift incisions. That made my arm lift the most painful of all of them. Doctors always short sell the amount of time that it truly takes to recover. In fact, I joke with both my surgeons about that. Many times they tell you that a couple weeks and everything is back to normal. that is not true....most of the bruising and swelling may be much improved but it takes a while to get used to how your body feels, and how you even carry yourself. For example....my facial plastic surgeon who is masterful told me he would expect my bruising and swelling to be gone at 2 weeks. Everyone is different.....I have had BBL treatements twice per week for the last 3 weeks and I still have bruises under my eyes. When he saw me at two weeks he was disappointed that my eyes were still bruised. It's not a huge deal, a good plastic surgeon will provide treatments to reduce it more quickly, provide the right makeup to cover it up and even tutorials on how to do that. That is great after care...... So, make sure you aske exactly what is included and for how long. All of my treatments have been 100% included as are all follow ups. When I had my breast lift done, I had two small openings where the two scars come together under the breast. This issue is very common and not a big deal but when it first happens it can freak you out. My Body plastic surgeon took such great care of me and called regularly and would come in to meet me at the office if I needed her. My gastric bypass was the best thing that ever happened to me.....now plastics has been. It is scary and painful and worth every penny if you choose a surgeon that you feel very comfortable with and has a good record of successful procedures. When it comes to plastics, don't focus on a bargain, focus on the team. If you find a good one, they will work out proposals that give you a good deal anyway. I have spent a lot of money on my procedures and they have been worth every single penny. Having plastics is so exciting and I am excited for you!!!

If you talked to people who have actually had WLS and have been successful with it, most would tell you they're happy they did it. This surgery isn't some fly by night diet we do to "get skinny". It's a serious, life changing medical procedure that should only be done only after some heavy duty research and contemplation. It won't change your love of eating, won't choose what you decide to eat, and the chances of you staying "skinny" (IF you even get there) are less than 50% if you haven't made the decision and have the emotional tools to completely change your lifestyle. If anything, people who are unprepared are more unhappy than they were before because they went through a life altering surgery with all the possible side effects and none of the results. It really has a tendency to complicate things in our lives, too, so be prepared for that.

I was the same about complications for the first week after surgery and Co constantly crying and over emotional that somthing would go wrong I'm over it now haha complications are very rare Sent from my A1601 using BariatricPal mobile app

Complications with the sleeve are very uncommon. If you are following your surgeons directions then you should have nothing to worry about. Find something to take your mind off of it. I like to cruise Pinterest for healthy recipes to try. I even like trying new recipes for my family even if I can't eat them- weird I know. Maybe even find a new hobby unrelated to weight loss. Just a thought. Mich W Hw 223, SW 217 CW 196.6 GW 135

I'm a 25 year old guy, and before weight loss journey I weighed 304 pounds. Now I weigh 264, but like I said I gained 2 pounds. I know I should be dropping weight fast, but I'm scared I'm not. I'm also worried now about starting to gain weight. I wish I had some sort of like a meal plan for the week. I find many out there but they don't really say how much of everything can you eat, or if they have meal plans, they are like supper complicated. I jut really don't want to start gaining weight again.

I was sleeved on 7/24/17 and had no complications. I am following my surgeons plan to a 'T'. The only real "issues" I have had (if you could even call it that) is a MUCH slower resting heart rate (pre-surgery in mid 70's and now in high 40's) and what I am told is normal stomach spasms while drinking my fluids. Anyway, all that consumes me each day is developing blood clot(even tho I walk many times a day and keep active), pneumonia (even tho I use my incentive spirometer several times a day and haven't had any shortness or breath), staple line leak and strictures. I tend to be an over-worrier as it is but I wish I could just enjoy my new sleeve and this gift that has been given to me to start a new healthy like and NOT worry so much! Lea HW 282 5' 4" 39 years old SW 264 Sleeved on 7/24/17

By law, you don't have to tell them what type of surgery it is. Although you call it elective, it is still considered a medical necessity by most states and most insurance companies. If your insurance covers it, than it is not "elective". I agree that scheduling it to coincide with normal holidays would be helpful (if you get holidays off). I know many that only take a week off, so if your job is not super physical, you might not need the extra time (with the sleeve). Gastric bypass is more complicate and a slightly longer recovery (my mom had bypass)

James-I so agree with you! Sugar is just death--especially if you have or have had cancer! Congrats on your success and on being able to arrest your disease progression! Woot! I know you had to be thrilled to be able to stop your meds so soon after the surgery?! I read your story your sometimes link to (that has the recipes) and you have been one of my inspirations to begin this journey. And I hope to be able to pick your brain a bit more about your use of chili and "stewps" as an easy means of meal planning! Here is an abstract that talks about bariatric surgery and breast cancer reduction. I can't get hold of the complete thesis, nor am I succeeding finding the 2 studies it references in PubMed. But it appears encouraging. In my first 5 years, I had a greater than 50% probability of recurrence and did not have good odds for 5 year survival. Now, I'm down to 25%, which is awesome to cut the risk in about half, but it's still pretty high risk from my POV--so if WLS can further cut that risk...WOW! Sadly Femara will be a drug that won't get to be discontinued after surgery--although I have hope my other meds will go bye-bye! Sherrie, so sorry to hear about your mama! ((Sherrie)) I also lost my mom to complications of lung cancer. Cancer sucks! Congrats on your weight loss and control of the insulin resistance!! But boo on the new blood sugar! Glad you're back on course! Thank you for sharing your inspiration. I really pray that the surgery will help me get a handle on the IR. Even with fasting, reducing cals, and 35lbs weight loss my insulin is still on the high end of normal.

[emoji1374] and good luck with everything. I dont mean that in a bad way either. Just be prepared, idk if it was just me put everyone said their pain was worst with the sleeve but mine is worst this time it hurts to breath and that may be cause of my complications before and what they found after. I have Acid reflux, kidney infection, dehydration been in the hospital 2x for dehydration and kidney infection. Now that im out of surgery my pancreas was irritated. Dont have ll the details yet havent seen the doctor since i came out of recovery a few hours ago I pray it gets better and i hope yours go smoothly i was 7m out from having the sleeve 12/2/17 bypass 07/28/17

Thanks all. I was just surprised about the pills. Whole purpose for surgery is to avoid insulin. My bottle of liquid pain med is huge(over half pint) Anesthesia has never bothered me before after several different surgeries and I've only had to take 1-2 pain meds after them. It's a 2 hr drive for me from hospital so Drs always have me get the meds after all the travel.I think he must have forgotten the cheaper nausea....I feel so bad about that expensive stuff I had filled and hopefully won't need. Cancer patients can't afford this stuff. WalMart should have told me the price on it.......here I was being whiney about the cost of the pain patches. Thanks again for all the kind words and encouragement. Just trying to be prepared. Praying for a complication free surgery and recovery for all of us. Bless you all for being willing to help and encourage others. Have a wonderful weekend!

No other surgery except for the sleeve. I didn't have any complications, it just hurt like h3ll! My nurse told me what I was feeling on the side of my stomach (pain) was the fact that they cut through my stomach muscle. Cutting through my muscle hurt more than cutting 80 percent of my stomach off. I could barely sit or stand for long periods of a time. I had to lay with my pillows elevating my upper body a little. Height: 5'0" Weight for WLS consultation: 216 lbs. Surgery date: 2/13/17 Goal: -71 lbs for healthy BMI (about 145 lbs). Current weight: 145 lbs, now ready to lose 15 more past goal. My profile picture is not me. It's my "FITspiration" body.

I am so sorry for your complication. I was told that for 95% of patents surgery is VERY worth it but for the very few with one of the two big complications, it isn't. We all hope like hell not to be the one with the complications. I'm sorry. i am one week plus two days out, what is that, day 9? I have had no serious pain or nausea, though I stayed on my liquid oxy for two days post surgery. I've been weak, and sipping fluids has been difficult, but I've slept very well, and have started getting enough protein daily. Today I spent the whole day on the go (helping my son look for his first apartment) so I'm pretty tired. I plan to rest all weekend. I want people to know it's been a calm and not unpleasant recovery for me the first week. I've slept on my side with my body pillow since night 4. I haven t been really hungry like we felt on the pre op. But when I'm really weak I'm learning I need more protein powder. So I sip it a lot. It's like a new hungry. i helped my dehydration by paying for a vitamin IV and I'll do it each week. i wish no one had to have any surgical complications!

I'm willing to accept the reality that people come with a wide range of pain tolerance, for one thing; another is that people apparently may experience a range of minor complications, from gas to inability to swallow easily to constipation. Or not, which is great for those who don't have those issues. For a lot of people, this is the first major surgery they've had. I've had six surgeries, including an open hysterectomy, and I know that some are definitely worse than others (e.g., I also had my gall bladder out, and that was quite easy). Yes, this can be considered something each of us agreed to, but the original question opens the portal for anything someone wasn't expecting. Virtually no one in this thread (or on this site, for that matter) has said they would have chosen NOT to have the surgery. As far as I'm concerned, anything anyone says that can help me be prepared for what *might* happen is all good information. But the only people I get a little testy with are the ones who say things like "I'm hardly losing weight at all, and I've been following the plan pretty closely, except for those three doughnuts I had . . ."

Thank you for these tips! It's such an interesting study on the human psyche, but I deferred making a decision and moving forward with surgery plans for a couple of years. My oncologist has been gently encouraging me (moving me) toward this surgical intervention for years because my recurrence risk has been crazy high. I resisted (I'm 6 years out from an aggressive, late-stage breast cancer.) And now that I've made up my mind to do WLS, I am impatient to get "the party started." LOL. Like I want it yesterday. I hear ya about the GERD. I also feel like with breast cancer, pre-diabetes, PCOS/metabolic syndrome, HBP and a few other delightful co-morbidities I'm a walking time-bomb and need to really have more malabsorption in the equation. The only huge thing that complicates it is if I would still be able to absorb my Femara (aromatase inhibitor) after RNY or DS. And the secondary question would be what happens to my chance of long-term survival in the event of recurrence? Would the surgery complicate treatment/survival?